Data Visualization
Data visualization is the process of representing data in visual form using elements like graphs, maps, charts, infographics, and diagrams. Data visualization makes it easy to understand and analyze massive volumes of data by highlighting the hidden trends, patterns, and anomalies, thereby helping in making data-driven decisions.
Data visualization is a combination of both art and data science. It uses tools and techniques to clear the unnecessary noise from big data and uses visual storytelling elements to make it receptive to the human brain. Data visualization is a powerful medium that enables users to make sense of trillions of rows of data every day.
Importance of Data Visualization
Data visualization can help enterprises in:
- Making data easily digestible: It becomes extremely difficult to find answers from data when it grows beyond billions and trillions of rows. Massive datasets can lose their worth if not presented in a way that makes them easy to comprehend. Data visualization helps analysts make sense of ever-growing enterprise data with the help of visual representation through interactive dashboards, charts, graphs, infographics, etc.
- Predicting the future via trend analysis: Businesses can use the data from the past to predict the future. However, using historical analysis to find trends and patterns can be overwhelming without visual representation. Data visualization simplifies year-over-year data to reveal hidden trends and make accurate predictions.
- Narrating the data story: Data visualization tools enable data analysts in adding a narrative to the monotonous data in an interactive way. It helps to target the readers’ emotions and make decision-making easier.
- Making data-driven decisions: When decisions are supported by data as evidence, they become more accurate and precise. Data visualization enables decision-makers to leverage their data and base critical business decisions on it.
- Highlighting areas of attention: With the help of visual elements, data visualization makes it easier to direct the attention of the reader to key performance areas.
Popular Data Visualization Tools
Some popular and most trusted data visualization tools are:
- Tableau: Tableau is a data visualization software focused on modern business intelligence. It enables users to interact with their data using dashboards and carry end-to-end analytics.
- Power BI: Power BI is a self-service, enterprise business intelligence and analytics tool that serves users with AI-powered query processors.
- MicroStrategy: This legacy data visualization platform provides faster insights and analytics for creating intelligent enterprises.
- Looker: A Google product, Looker is a big data analytics and business intelligence software that lets users analyze data in real time.
- MS Excel: Microsoft Excel is the most used and renowned data visualization tool. It is spreadsheet software that enables analytics through graphing elements, pivot tables, and macros.